Tea Garden
by Skye's Redemption
Summary: She only wanted a part-time job. Now she's sucked into the mafia world and there's no way out. Unless, of course, she quits. But she needs the money. And she's too intrigued to do so. Hibari x OC. Rated M for possible swearing. Pace picks up starting Chapter 6!
1. Prologue

My first KHR fanfic! Ohohoho. I've finally crawled out of the deep dark hole I've been hiding in for the past 3 years…now I'm back to writing! Yay! I guess it's good practise too, since my grammar and writing sucks (English is my second language). Anyway, please bear with my mistakes! :D

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!. **

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><p><p>

Prologue: The Garden

"_Hello."_

_It's that woman again. Why does she keep appearing in my dreams?_

"_You're planning to go out tomorrow, aren't you?"_

_How does she know? She always knows. She must be a fortune teller._

_The woman chuckled. Her hazel eyes sparkled in the light that bathed her figure. Her wavy brown hair cascaded gently down her shoulders._

"_You should know by now that I'm not a fortune teller."_

_Then who _are_ you?_

"_Observe your surroundings carefully. Keep an eye out for anything that…piques your interest."_

_What is that supposed to mean?_

"_Be extremely cautious. Choose your words carefully. Don't do anything reckless. You _will fail_ if you do not do what I say."_

_Why are you telling me this?_

"_I have to go." The outline of her figure was beginning to fade, merging with the mosaic-like colours behind her._

_Wait! Don't go yet! Am I in trouble?_

"_Stay alert. Do not be deceived by the snake."_

_She smiled before her entire figure faded away._

_A blurry image of a garden replaced the woman. A tree in the center of the garden captured my attention._

_It had green leaves that sparkled as a soft breeze passed by. Red and gold fruit hung on the branches. It was pure and innocent; it seemed almost…magical._

_But it had a fence around it. A low, wooden one. And a snake sat on the top, slithering its tongue. It stared at me with its piercing eyes. The snake looked like it was waiting for me. Expecting me._

_I moved towards the snake slowly. No, I wasn't the one who was moving; my feet were moving me. I couldn't stop myself. I needed to get away._

_Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the snake._

"_Eat the forbidden fruit, my dear. It will not harm you; it will only open your eyes."_

_No!_

_I climbed over the fence and stood at the foot of the tree. The fruit were just out of my reach._

_My hands and feet were out of control. I jumped and my outstretched hand managed to grasp one of the fruit. It was pulled off of its branch. I marvelled at it._

"_Go ahead, my dear," said the snake. "Take a bite. It will give you knowledge and power. You will see much more than before._

_I brought the fruit close to my mouth._

_No! The snake is only deceiving you! I told myself._

_My lips parted and my teeth sunk into the sweet, sweet flesh of the fruit._

~x~

Arashi bolted up from her bed. Her brown hair was a tangled mess and half of her blanket had fallen off of the bed.

"What the heck?" she said to herself.

She threw off the rest of the blanket, which were tangled in between her legs, and let it slide off onto the floor. She scampered to her desk and searched for a pen and a random piece of paper. She quickly scribbled down what that woman said to her in her dream before she forgot.

_But,_ she thought as she rushed to the bathroom, _I don't get why the garden part is always the same. Maybe it's some sort of deja vu?_

Little did she know, she was right.

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><p><strong>AN: **Ahahaha. Well that sounded creepier (or not) than I intended it to be…Anyway. My original prologue is now chapter 1, because I realized that the story needed a little more of a kick start :D

Thanks for reading! ^^ Comments? Questions? Please review!


	2. The Garden of Eden

Chapter 1~! Sorry for the delay – I sprained my wrist so I had to stay away from the computer (and unfortunately, writing tests as well) for a while ;A;

ANYWAY… important **note!**

My tone tends to change according to my mood. Most of the time it should be pretty consistent though…(This story will most likely be written in a casual tone :D)

**Dirkje **& **Bloody-WhiteRose97**, thank you so much for reviewing! 3

**DISCLAIMER:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Amano Akira~ I own none of it!

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><p>Chapter 1: The Garden of Eden<p>

(The prologue was actually supposed to be called 'The Dream'…ahaha…)

It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning. Masamune Arashi casually strolled down Namimori shopping district all by herself, looking for something interesting to do. The shops were just starting to open and filled the district with a lively atmosphere. As she walked past an alley, something caught her eye and she backtracked.

_A shop in the alley? _She thought. _Interesting…_

She was standing in front of a store with a fancy wooden sign that read _The Garden_. An intricate design of what seemed to be loops and swirls followed after the title. She had no idea whether the design was supposed to be more words, but it looked pretty.

She pushed the front door and walked in.

~x~

Ah. It wasn't a store at all. It was just a tea house. Scratch that…it wasn't _just_ a tea house, it was a pretty, elegant tea house. The tea house was empty, as it was quite early in the morning, so Arashi was left to quietly observe her surroundings. Japanese rice paper walls, low wooden tea tables and tatami mats composed the basics of the shop. Trees with fruits of various colours dangling off of them were strategically placed along the walls. Several large, tea rooms lined the back of the shop, each with their own sliding doors to create more privacy. Japanese lanterns hung directly above each table, and dusts of gold and silver on the ceiling and walls completed the decorative aspect of the shop. The tea house was a mix of elegance and beauty.

"Good morning," a low-pitched voice rumbled from behind her.

Arashi jumped and turned toward the source of the voice. She looked up to meet the dark brown eyes of an old man. _EEEK! So tall! So intimidating! _She thought. Then she caught sight of his forehead and gaped. _So many wrinkles!_

"A-Ah…good morning," she returned the greeting nervously.

The old man chuckled darkly. "What brings you here, little girl? We haven't opened shop yet."

Said girl shrunk back a bit. What a scary old man…after all, he was 6'4", and she was only a meagre height of 5'1"!

"Um…" she stalled, not knowing what to say. Hey, it's not like you'd tell someone if you randomly barged into their restaurant just because you thought it was pretty!

Suddenly, a shrill female voice pierced through the air. "OYAJI!" Arashi and the old man cringed. A door that was labelled 'Staff Only' slammed open to reveal a silhouette. The figure advanced in a menacing manner, each footstep thumping against the floor so hard that Arashi could actually feel the ground shake beneath her feet. She squeaked in fright.

The female with the heavy footsteps stopped in front of the two. Arashi peeked out from in-between her fingers, which she unconsciously used to cover her eyes with. She found herself staring at a tall, slender woman who looked to be about 20 years old. Her blond hair was tied up into a bun and her cheeks were red.

The woman was firing an intense glare at Arashi.

"What are you doing here, girl?" she asked in a somewhat threatening manner. "Shop hasn't opened yet. Get out before I send you flying out of here with my broom." Oh. She has a big, scary broom in her hand.

Arashi backed away slowly. This is not good. Not good at all. Now she must think of a plan to escape without getting physically hurt!

"Ah, Masami. This little girl here seems to be interested in our shop. Perhaps she would like to work here. Wouldn't you, little girl?" the old man lied, winking at said girl.

The woman pondered for a moment in silence. "Hmm…we could use a hand." Then she gave Arashi a once-over from head to toe. Arashi sweatdropped. _How did I get myself into this again?_

"Girl, are you interested in working here?" the woman interrupted Arashi's thoughts. Speaking of which, the woman and the old man have been referring to her as 'girl' and 'little girl'. She didn't really like that…she has a name too, like everyone else, you know!

"Yes, ma'am, I am very interested in working here. My name is Masamune Arashi. Please let me know when I can come again for an interview! I hope to see you soon!" The girl, now properly introduced to the two as Arashi, took this as an opportunity to escape from the two scary people and began to walk as fast as possible towards the exit without making it seem too obvious that she's trying to run away.

"Come back, girl!" the woman bellowed. Arashi froze in her tracks.

Oh no! Now she's going to kill her!

"You're hired!"

…

_Eh?_

"I'm hired?" Arashi asked, bewildered. "But I haven't even shown you my resume…" Oyaji smiled at Arashi and was about to respond, but Masami interrupted him.

"We'll start you off with the easy stuff, and you'll get paid more than enough to buy your weekly groceries," the woman waved her hand impatiently. "Now are you going to get to work or not?"

"Right now?"

"Yes. NOW." The woman bellowed. She bent down to retrieve a package from a drawer behind the desk, dumped said package into her new employee's hands and shoved her into the change room. "You have 10 minutes before shop opens!"

Arashi sweatdropped. She had only said she wanted to work here, partly because she had to go with the old man's lie. But then again, this isn't such a bad place to work in…it would be a good experience and she'd be able to make her own living and stop relying on her parents, who sent her monthly allowances all the way from France! What if she ran out of money on the first day of the month from buying too much grocery? Overseas banking takes a while, you know!

Anyway…

Arashi changed into the mint green uniform that she found in the package. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and checked to make sure she was wearing the uniform correctly. As soon as she finished the deed, Masami started banging on the door of the change room, yelling "IT'S 8:59! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE OR YOU'LL BE FIRED!"

Arashi sweatdropped. What a scary, demanding boss.

Arashi stepped out into the shop. Masami had just opened the front door and a group of men walked in. She led them into one of the private rooms, slid their door shut, and rushed towards Arashi.

"Get the menus, you sluggish girl! Then come take their orders with me!" Masami said to her. Arashi immediately scampered towards the room. "Oh, and if you treasure your life, you better not write down their orders wrong!" She called after her.

_What's that supposed to mean?_ Arashi thought as she followed Masami towards the room, a stack of menus in hand. She knocked on the sliding door, waited for a 'come in' from the other side, then opened the door cautiously. A room full of men decked in black suits and sunglasses came into her view.

_Why do they all look so shady?_ Arashi thought. _They're staring at me…with sinister auras radiating off of them…_

Masami took a bow. Arashi followed suit and quickly distributed the menus. "Good morning, and welcome to the _Garden of Eden_!"

_Wait…_ Arashi stood still, as if she were petrified.

"Please take a look at our menu and press that button when you're ready for us to take your orders!"

_Garden…_ Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly.

Arashi vaguely remembered Masami bowing, then pushing Arashi's head down as well because she forgot to do the same thing, then dragging her out of the room.

_Of Eden…_

Once they were in the kitchen, Masami grabbed Arashi's shoulders and shook her vigorously. "Oi, what the hell, girl!" she shouted. "Even if you _are_ stupid, don't give the customers that stupid look! They'll think I hired a totem pole!"

Arashi snapped out of her stupor and blinked. "Totem pole?"

"You were stiff as a rock, your eyes were bulging and your mouth was hanging open like those animal drawings on totem poles – close your stupid mouth before drool leaks out," Masami scolded.

Arashi pressed her lips together and licked them nervously. "Masami-san…you said this tea house is called the Garden of Eden…so the swirls and loops after the word 'Garden' on your store sign are actually words?"

"Yes, silly. Now help me take glasses out of the shelf there. Hurry up!"

Arashi moved towards the shelf and lined 11 glasses on a tray. She shifted the glasses around half-heartedly.

_The Garden of Eden appeared in my dream. The fortune teller must've been talking about this! _

_And if this really was the Garden of Eden, then there must be a snake._

Masami was either yelling at her, or talking to herself; she wasn't sure. All she could hear right now were the thoughts that were swimming frantically in her head.

_But who is the snake?_

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><p><strong>AN:** You're probably thinking, WHY THE HECK DID THEY HIRE ARASHI JUST LIKE THAT, WITHOUT A RESUME? Well, you'll find out soon enough :D There'll probably be some subtle hints next chapter.

I personally think I could've done better…I had to rewrite this several times because I thought some ideas were too stupid and made no sense.

Please stay and continue reading! D: The story will get much better, I promise!

And don't forget to give constructive criticism so I can improve my writing~! :D

Thanks for reading! –bows-


	3. Duties, and the Encounter

Sorry for the super late update! Lots of things came up and I had to be pulled away from my computer for a while ;A;

**DISCLAIMER: **(I always forget to put this up…even though I know in my heart and mind that I don't own anything) Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is owned by Amano Akira. If I owned that awesome story I'd give Hibird more screen time :D

Note: I don't normally like to put honorifics behind people's names because this _is_ a story in English, but it just doesn't sit right to call Hibari just like that. So in this story, the Japanese honorifics 'system' will be applied to everyone, just so everything stays consistent. :D

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><p>Chapter 2: Duties, and the Encounter<p>

Arashi locked her front door, untied her shoes, and made a leap for her couch that sat in the living room. Nevertheless, she tripped over the step that separated the shoes-off area and the rest of her apartment, and planted face first onto the ground. She laid there for a moment and sighed. Her energy had been completely drained from the day of work.

~x~

"_Quit being such a sloth, girl! Pick up the pace!" Masami called out as she rushed back towards the kitchen. Arashi struggled to navigate pass the tables of customers with a tray full of empty glasses and porcelain. Boy, being a waitress was much harder than she thought!_

_Arashi peered over Masami's shoulder. "What tea are you making?" Oh yes. Aside from taking orders and serving customers, she was also supposed to learn how to make tea. "Honey vanilla tea," Masami replied. "Add 2 tablespoons of vanilla, a tablespoon of honey and a pinch of cinnamon, and you've got your tea." Masami stirred the concoction and a sweet, warm aroma filled the air. Arashi sniffed and sighed. It smelled just like home…_

_Masami smacked her. "Snap out of it. You don't have time to daydream. Get this tray of tea to table 16A NOW."_

_Arashi was returning to the kitchen when she noticed Oyaji through the slightly opened STAFF ONLY door. She observed that he was just sitting there with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, doing nothing. Isn't he supposed to help out at the shop? I mean, there are only 3 people working in here!_

_So Arashi decided to go ask Masami._

"_Ne, Masami-san…why is Oyaji just sitting there…meditating? Isn't he going to make tea too?" Arashi chose her words cautiously, careful not to anger Masami and get her butt (and the rest of her body) permanently kicked out of the tea house._

_Masami glared at her. "Oyaji isn't mediating at all. He's –" Masami's eyes widened for a nanosecond – then regained her composure before saying, "Nevermind. You're right. He's meditating. He does that all the time. It's what old men do, you know?" and walked away._

_There's definitely something going on, Arashi thought. Masami-san was going to say something else! It must be some secret that she can't tell me about…_

~x~

Arashi plopped onto her bed after a nice, warm shower. She took a look at the working schedule that Masami had given her at the end of the day. She was to work full time on weekends, and part time on weekdays. She would get a day off one day of her choice every month. And she gets days off on school and public holidays. It was a pretty good deal.

The brown haired girl yawned and crawled into her bed, her schedule tossed carelessly onto her bedside table. As soon as her head hit her fluffy pillow, she fell asleep.

~x~

"You're not going to be making tea anytime soon, you little sloth," Masami said as she bustled around the kitchen, "you're still too slow and inexperienced. And I don't want you to mess up the drinks and poison my customers."

Arashi nodded in response and walked out of the kitchen with a tray full of steaming hot drinks. As she was distributing the drinks to her customers, she noticed a group of teens standing at the entrance, waiting to be served.

"Teenagers these days are so loud and obnoxious," an old lady commented as Arashi set down her cup of tea in front of her. Indeed, the group at the entrance was pretty much shouting their heads off for some odd reason. Whether they were arguing or whether this was how they normally communicate to each other, Arashi didn't know; but she did know they were disturbing the customers.

Arashi walked up to the group and greeted them. "Would you like a private room?" She asked, and the group enthusiastically accepted the offer. She led them toward the VIP rooms that lined the back of the tea house. The cluster continued chatting loudly behind her, earning looks and glares from the customers they passed by. When Arashi reached a vacant room, she let out a small sigh of relief. At least they'll stop causing a ruckus now - she'd learned yesterday that the private rooms were soundproof. She was about to slide the door open when an overly-muscular guy at the front of the group shouted, "WHAT THE HELL? D'you expect us to believe that there's a so-called 'PRIVATE ROOM' behind this SOLID wooden wall? We're not STUPID, YA KNOW!" Arashi winced. Before Arashi could say anything, though, the group turned around and stormed out of the tea house.

Arashi raised an eyebrow. _Well,_ she thought, _problem solved!_ So she casually strode back to the kitchen. Once inside, however, she stopped to think for a bit.

"_D'you expect us to believe that there's a so-called PRIVATE ROOM behind this SOLID wooden wall?" the overly muscular guy shouted._

Wait a minute. Something's not right.

_Solid_ wooden wall?

If Arashi recalled correctly (which I'm pretty sure she did), the sliding door is, well, very much like a _door_. There was absolutely _no way_ someone can mistake that for a solid, wooden wall! Alright…maybe stupid people won't be able to tell it's a door. But even the most ignorant, stupidest morons in the world would be able to tell whether something is a door or not! I mean, it _opens_! What kind of _wall_ would op-

_THUD_.

"ARRGHHHHHHHHH!"

_THUD_.

"What the heck was that?" Arashi said to herself as she rushed out to the store front. None of the customers seemed to be hurt, but they were all staring out the window. She hurried outside to investigate.

Members of the loud, obnoxious gang of teenagers were wrestling each other on the pavement in front of the store. They were yelling at each other at the top of their lungs. Arashi couldn't make out what the squabble was all about, but it was evident that the other members of the gang made no move to stop the ruckus.

"STOP!" Arashi shouted at the wrestling blob on the ground. Either they didn't hear her, or they ignored her. Or both. Anyway, Arashi jumped in and attempted to separate them with her tea-holding tray, only to be punched in the waist by one of them. She quickly withdrew herself from the fight. She clutched her side and winced. Boy, that was a hard punch!

She stood beside one of the teen bystanders and asked, "Do they do this often?"

The girl with too much eyeliner and large hoop earrings looked at Arashi. "Quite often, actually. That's how they get their muscles, you know."

Arashi stared at the girl. "So how do you stop them? These guys are scaring my customers!"

"You can't. They go on and on until one of them goes unconscious or tires out."

"WHAT? BUT THEY HAVE TO STOP!" Arashi scampered to the streets attempted to cry for help. "Somebody, please help stop this fight! Please!"

But she only received odd stares from passers-by. Arashi sighed in defeat. Nobody was going to help…

Then she felt an intense, dark aura coming closer. She looked around, and her eyes landed on a tall black-haired male. His murderous aura increased with every step he took. His silver weapons, which looked like sticks to Arashi, gleamed in the sunlight. A sadistic smirk adorned his face.

"For disturbing the peace of Namimori and crowding like herbivores, I will bite you all to _death._"

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><p>Alas! The long awaited appearance of Hibari! I'm sorry the last part seemed like a soap opera…I couldn't help myself. Teehee. Please feel free to give me any suggestions, comments, constructive criticism or ask any questions! :D<p>

THANKS FOR READING 8D


	4. The Game

I apologize for the super long wait…I decided to ban myself from the computer so I could study my butt off and do better in school! Can't blame a poor kid for trying, right? D:

Anyway…HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 3

**Disclaimer**: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is owned by Amano Akira.

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><p><em>Chapter 3: The Game<em>

Arashi looked at the mess in front of her. She had watched the tall boy with the shiny sticks single-handedly beat the rabble into a big, bloody, pulpy blob. Arashi wasn't sure whether she should feel horrified or be eternally grateful.

"Hibari-sama! We're sorry! Please don't kill us!" a barely conscious rabble member whimpered, folding his legs under his body (as much as he could with his most likely broken legs) and bowing to the raven haired boy. The raven haired boy took a look at him, muttered the word "pathetic", and kicked the poor boy back into his pile of fellow unconscious rabble members.

Arashi was beginning to feel sorry for those kids. They were going to get really, really expensive hospital bills, that's for sure. Come to think of it, she should go call the ambulance…

Suddenly, Arashi felt a murderous aura radiating towards her back. She froze in her tracks and slowly turned around. The raven haired boy advanced, a predatory glint in his eyes. Arashi took a step backward, tripped, and fell on her butt.

Arashi squeaked. The boy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Err…please don't kill me?" Arashi said rather unconvincingly. Seeing that the boy made no move to beat her up with his dangerous sticks, she continued. "I-I was trying to stop them from fighting, but I can't fight, so…"

"Hibari-sama!" Arashi turned toward the source of the voice and found herself staring at a bunch of males dressed in black with a pompadour hairstyle. She snickered. (Luckily, none of them heard, or she would've been dead meat.) "We've come to pick up the bodies," one of the pompadour males with the butt chin said.

The raven haired boy (without the pompadour), now properly identified as Hibari(-sama), nodded and began walking away.

"W-wait!" Arashi called out, surprising herself. Hibari turned and gave her an annoyed look. "Thank you for uh, keeping the peace of Namimori..." She said, remembering that the boy had come to beat the rabble up for 'disturbing Namimori's peace'. "Come and drop by for some tea when you have time, Hibari-san!"

Hibari left without another word, followed by the gang of pompadour men and the trail of the beat-up mob.

Arashi, unable to bear watching an unconscious teenager occasionally sliding off the rest of the bloody pile and making a disgusting squelching noise as their body hit the ground, ducked back into the store and scrubbed herself clean in the bathroom and sprayed deodorant on until she was rid of the smell of blood.

~x~

Meanwhile, a dark figure jumped off of a rooftop nearby and landed gracefully on the ground. He had witnessed the entire encounter. Smirking, he adjusted his hat and disappeared into thin air.

~x~

That night, Arashi had a dream.

_Oyaji was sitting cross-legged on a tea table in the middle of the room._

"_Why are you meditating on a _table_, Oyaji?" I inquired. "Store's going to open soon!" _

_What would the customers think if they saw an old man's butt lying on the same surface as their beverages?_

_Oyaji shushed me. "Just a few more minutes…"_

_I sighed and nodded. I was about to head back to the kitchen when the front door came crashing down. An angry looking black haired boy charged towards Oyaji with his metal weapons._

"_Wha-What are you –"_

"_For disturbing the peace of Namimori, I will bite you to death."_

"_H-Hibari-san?"_

_Oyaji laughed. "What peace of Namimori, young man?"_

_Without another word, Hibari brought his weapons down upon Oyaji's shoulders, only to have them met with air at the very last second._

_Oyaji chuckled from another table, still sitting in the same meditating pose._

_My jaw dropped. "WHAT THE –"_

"_I'm not as easy to defeat as you think, young man." Hibari frowned for a moment, then smirked. Once again he went after Oyaji._

_All the while I was frozen in shock. "What the…how the…HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET FROM HERE TO THERE SO FAST?"_

_Oyaji winked at me. "I'm a magician."_

"_EVEN MAGICIANS DON'T TELEPORT THAT QUICKLY!"_

"_Oh? But I'm a special kind of magician." "What kind?"_

"_An illusionist. I can deceive your eyes; your perception of the world around you."_

_I laughed. "I don't believe you. Prove it."_

"_Keep your eyes on this young man right here, because I'm going to throw him through that door without lifting a finger."_

_As soon as he finished his sentence, Hibari was picked up by an invisible force and thrown toward the back rooms. He went through the door, but the door didn't break. "H-Hibari-san!" I exclaimed. I rushed toward the room and reached to slide the door open, but my hand went right through the door frame. "Wha-"Caught off guard, my body continued moving and I flew through the door as well and landed face first on the floor._

~x~

"Oof!"

Arashi's head met with the polished wooden floor of her bedroom. Well, that was a rather unpleasant way to wake up. She groped around blindly for her bedside table and reached for her alarm clock. It was 5am.

Arashi groaned.

She was about to crawl back into the warm covers of her cozy bed when she suddenly remembered she had a dream. She found her journal and pencil and sat on the bed. Her mother had always told her to write down her dreams, no matter how strange they may be. After all, as her mother said, her unconscious eyes might see what her conscious eyes had missed!

_Why was I dreaming about Oyaji being a magician? He doesn't even look like one!_ Arashi thought._ And it seems rather strange that he's capable of beating up Hibari-san so easily. Perhaps Oyaji is much stronger than he looks…_

The image of Oyaji the first day Arashi met him popped into her mind. A dark, scary aura had been radiating off of him even though he had a smile on his face. But that was all forgotten when Masami marched in and proved to be much more intimidating.

Arashi drifted back into replaying her dream. There was something else – something else in her dream that caught her eye, albeit how insignificant it seemed. She closed her eyes and tried to find that moment she was looking for.

"The back rooms!" She exclaimed out loud, recalling how Hibari was thrown toward a back room but the door didn't break. It seemed rather trivial that she was thinking about the back rooms, but they did seem rather suspicious, seeing as how the rabble didn't see the rooms…

Arashi found that her dreams always held some truth in them, or at least something worth looking into. Maybe she was subconsciously psychic… She decided that she would go investigate those doors.

~x~

The brunette went to work earlier than usual and, seeing that nobody else was here yet, snuck into the store front. She was armed with a towel and a bucket of water. She walked toward the back rooms, swiping the tables she encountered on her way. When she reached the back rooms, she slid open one of the doors and ran her hand down the middle of it.

Nope. Nothing tricky… No bumps or slits around the lock, either.

She ran her hands around the front and back sides of the door. Arashi felt like she was doing a body search on the door. She put pressure on the rice paper grids of the door and swiped her hands around every edge. All she got was a couple of dust bunnies though.

"MASAMUNE! What the HELL are you doing to the door?" Arashi jumped at the booming voice.

Crap.

"A-ah, Masami-san! I was…uh…cleaning the doors?" Masami narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Arashi felt cold sweat forming on her back.

"Err…look at the towel! It's grey from wiping down the doors!"

Masami continued staring at her. Arashi kept her posture rigid, afraid that even a slight movement would increase Masami's suspicion.

After what seemed like an hour or two, Masami finally turned away. "Hurry up and go change. Store opens in 10 minutes."

Arashi let out a sigh of relief. She gave a last glance at the doors before she headed off to get ready.

Maybe there was nothing special about the doors at all.

Maybe the rabble was just blind. Or stupid. Maybe both.

~x~

After a long day of learning how to take orders more efficiently and brewing tea (and getting smacked countless times on the head by Masami), Arashi waved goodbye to her bosses. It was almost dinnertime, and she was in no mood to cook for herself. Thus, she was now seated comfortably (in a booth, how lucky) at a sushi restaurant, listening to the hearty chatters of neighbouring customers while waiting for her meal to arrive.

"Ciaossu," a voice said. Arashi turned to her right, and looked down to find a cute little boy sitting next to her. He was dressed in a suit; a black fedora completed his outfit. A green lizard sat on top of his hat.

"Why, hello there!" Arashi greeted with a smile.

"You don't seem at all surprised that a baby is talking to you," the child remarked.

Arashi shrugged. "I've seen weirder things," she replied, and shuddered when thoughts about all the strange things she's encountered in her life came up.

She shook her head. "Anyway! My name is Arashi! What's yours?"

"Reborn." Came the short reply.

"What a cool name!" Arashi replied heartily, ignoring the baby's curt, almost business-like manner.

When her food came she asked for an extra pair of chopsticks kindly offered the baby half of her meal.

"So," began Arashi between munches, "I suppose there's a reason why you're here hanging out with a boring teenaged girl like me?"

"You're not as stupid as I thought," muttered Reborn.

"HEY-" Arashi started, but afraid she misheard the baby, she inquired, "come again?"

"Let's play a game."

…_A game?_

* * *

><p>I think I'm going to have to rewrite this story…eventually…I've lost my touch after having my brain filled with physics, I swear.<p>

Am I rambling too much about unimportant things? /: I feel like I'm writing in too much detail…

Thank you for reading! ^^


	5. Test Run

Thank you for your reviews! They really mean a lot to me! –bows-

**Disclaimer: **Katekyo_ushi_ Hitman Reborn! is owned by the almighty Amano Akira~

[Argh I have gotten so used to just saying "Katekyo" that I completely forgot the actual first phrase was "Katekyoushi"…otherwise it wouldn't have made sense haha]

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Test Run<p>

Arashi was wide awake in bed, thinking about what Reborn had told her. In fact, she couldn't even believe she's thinking about the baby's words! I mean, come on, he's a _baby_. For all we know, Arashi could be suffering from temporary brain damage because Masami smacked her on the head too many times today.

But then again, Reborn's game was just too interesting to ignore.

"_Let's play a game."_

"…_What kind of game are you talking about?"_

"_It's a scavenger hunt - with a twist, of course. You are to act like a spy and collect information from anyone in the tea house that lo-"_

"_WAIT. How do you know I work at a tea house?" Arashi interrupted._

_Reborn sent her a death glare (which sent shivers down her spine) and ignored her. "-anyone in the tea house that looks or acts suspicious."_

_Arashi nodded slowly. "So…what kind of information should I be collecting?"_

"_Anything you observe or hear can be useful information. If you give me useless information, there will be grave consequences awaiting you," Reborn said with a dark glint in his eye, and paused a bit for the instructions (as well as the scary effects) to sink in._

"_This is only a test run, so if you fail this you won't be able to participate in the real game." Reborn said before he jumped off his seat._

"_What?" Arashi exclaimed. _

_The baby turned around. "Ah. I almost forgot. If you tell anyone else about this, or if you are caught, I will make sure that Hibari pays you a visit."_

"_EEK!" Arashi squeaked in response, having flashbacks of Hibari and the bloody, pulpy rabble she had encountered several days ago…_

~x~

Arashi sighed. Playing this game was going to be really challenging, but she wanted to try her best.

_I'll think of it as training my observational skills,_ she thought. _Besides, I refuse to give up without a fight!_

The brunette punched the air. With her thoughts sorted out, she finally drifted off to sleep.

~x~

"Reborn, why were you talking to the brown-haired girl yesterday?"

"None of your business, No-Good Tsuna."

"R-Reborn!"

"I heard you telling her about a game. Are you getting her to play mafia with us too? Haha!"

"EHHH?"

"Che. Reborn, I don't see the point of you trying to recruit such a _useless_ girl. Juudaime's got me!"

"G-Gokudera! Don't be so mean!"

~x~

Arashi sighed. She'd been playing the game for days, and so far she thought she was doing a pretty darn good job. Arashi had been writing down her observations in her notepad for taking orders so no one would find her actions suspicious. Of course, she had written them in a language only she would understand: 'Frapanese', a mixture of Japanese and broken French that her parents had forced her into her brain through weekly long-distance calls from France.

Anyway, it was Friday afternoon, and Masami allowed Arashi to leave a bit earlier than usual today so she could go out for dinner with her friends. Arashi was really excited – it had been a while since she had time to sit down and gossip about the latest school scandals.

But of course, good things only come after a bunch of gigantic, horrific obstacles. In Arashi's case, that would be Hibari-san, who had just stepped into the tea house and was glaring at her like he wanted to kill her.

Arashi squeaked inwardly and sped into the _Employees Only_ room. Hibari briefly spoke to Masami, who pointed towards Arashi (they could see her peeking through the window) and Hibari approached the room.

Arashi was freaking out. _OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH WHAT DID I DO WRONG?_ She didn't recall a single moment where she got caught or mentioned the game to anyone. _PLEASE SPARE MEEEEEE- _and the door opened, revealing Hibari with an intense murderous aura radiating off of him.

The raven haired boy stalked toward Arashi's hiding place (under a table - useless, really, even the blind can tell she's there because her shaking body against one of the table legs is making the table rattle loudly) and dragged her out. Arashi squeaked.

"Quit being useless and make me some tea," Hibari grumbled with his arms crossed after coolly planting his bottom on a chair.

Arashi stopped cowering in fear and looked up. "…"

"…"

"…You're not here to beat me up?"

"…Not yet."

The look of horror returned to the girl's face. Hibari smirked.

"Well then…that is very reassuring…" Arashi paused. "But I will make you some tea! Unless you have any objections, I'll make you my specialty green tea! I add a little of my secret ingredients to bring out the green tea's natural flavour even more~" the girl said and ran to the kitchen to prepare the drink.

She served the hot beverage and nervously sat down across from Hibari as he took a sip.

There was an awkward silence (with a heck load of tension of course), so Arashi decided to break the silence. "I've already sent Reborn my report and I didn't tell anyone about this and I'm pretty sure I didn't get caught…"

"You handwrote the report on _pink, frilly_ paper." Hibari growled in disgust, holding up a piece of paper folded into a heart shape.

"It was supposed to be disguised as a love letter so no one would notice! See? It's still a totally legitimate report! I'll read it to you!" Arashi snatched the paper from him (who gave her a glare, but she was feeling brave so she ignored it) and began. "Dear Reborn-san_…_

_Dear Reborn-san,_

_This is Arashi! I'm disguising this as a love letter since you said you were very popular with the ladies and get hundreds of these every day! I'm sure no one will realize that this isn't a love letter! ;D_

_Anyway, I've noticed 2 patterns. I'm not sure if they are connected in any way (and if they are, I have no idea how)…I present to you, 'Oyaji's Meditating Behaviour' and 'The Backroom Pattern'!_

_Lately I've noticed Oyaji always in the corner of the kitchen, sitting with his legs crossed and with his eyes closed like he's meditating. Whenever I call him he ignores me. Once, I poked him just for fun. He opened his eyes (which was weird - his irises turned indigo! They were supposed to be brown…) and gave me a really scary death glare. He told me that he was really busy at the moment and if I continued pestering him he would have no choice but to kill me. Oyaji says that he's going to kill me a lot, and it's always in a joking manner, but his scary glare makes me think he means it this time. D:_

_The backroom pattern is basically a weird thing that I've noticed about the people that enter the back rooms. The people that go in usually look really shady or suspicious, or sometimes they look like they're here for some sort of business meeting with their suits and briefcases. And the weirdest thing is that not everyone knows the backrooms exist! I mean, it's pretty obvious to me that those are doors, but all of our non-shady/suspicious/business-looking customers think that they're just walls. Which is really, really strange. Why do I have a feeling that people are doing something bad in the back rooms?_

_Anyway, that's all I have to report…I hope you found this useful /:_

_And even if I fail, PLEASE DON'T SEND HIBARI TO KILL ME! Think of it as a favour because I shared half of my dinner with you last week? *v*_

_Love,_

_Arashi :D_

~x~

"So? How was that?" Arashi asked nervously, refolding the report into a heart. "Do you think Reborn will let me pass?"

"You pass." Reborn's voice said.

Arashi looked up. "EH? REBORN! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?" She looked around. "Where did Hibari-san go?"

"He got annoyed listening to you and left," Reborn smirked. "But he did finish your tea."

"Oh, that's awesome!" Arashi punched the air. "I passed the test _and_ Hibari-san-the-scary-guy liked my tea! Success!"

"You have proved yourself worthy of my time. Welcome to _the_ _family_."

* * *

><p>Tada! Thank you for reading~ 3<p>

In case anyone is confused: yes, Arashi was eating at Takesushi when Reborn approached her, and the guys were eating there too.

Arashi & Hibari were able to carry out their conversation in the employees' room without Masami or Oyaji coming in because of Hibari's super awesome threatening skills. ;D

And as for why Arashi wasn't surprised when a baby started talking to her…well…anyone who's acquainted with the kids in KHR is obviously crazy to some extent, you know? :D

Kudos to you, _Gwenny-Dear, _you've got it! :D –sends over virtual cookie-

I feel like the story is progressing in a turtle pace…should I try to write in less detail so the plot can move faster? Constructive criticism would be much loved!


	6. Animated  Character

Hello there! It's been a long while…and I know that the story has been moving at a snail pace so TIME TO SPEED THINGS UP!

**Disclaimer: **Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn! is owned by Amano Akira~

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Animated  Character

"_Meeting the family"_ was really not as foreboding as Reborn made it sound like. Arashi had a blast meeting everyone (literally; she was completely unaware that children were so dangerous nowadays that they'd throw grenades at her and turn into ticking time bombs) and Tsuna's mother had been insanely nice and laid back. (Arashi's mom is the complete opposite. She opens the door and goes, _"Who the hell are you? What the hell do you want? No I do not want to buy your cookies. Get out."_ All in one breath and then slams the door in their faces.)

Tsuna was the nicest boy she has ever met. He was like a fluffy golden retriever with his doe brown eyes and his warm, kind heart. He was a bit of a drama queen and a scaredy cat, though. He's hypersensitive and overreacts to a lot of things. Or maybe it's just because Reborn scares him all the time.

("Loser Tsuna."

"Reborn! Is this the girl you were talking to the other day? Hi! I'm Tsuna! Nice to meet you!"

"Hi Tsuna! I'm Arashi!"

"She's friends with Hibari."

"HIIIIIIIIEEEEE?" Tsuna speeds into a far away corner and cowers in fear.

"Reborn! The last time I checked, Hibari-san and I weren't exactly on friendly terms! Don't scare Tsuna like that!")

Arashi hoped they would still be friends ten years from now. She'd love to see what he would be like when he turns into a man.

Gokudera Hayato was extremely hot (who wouldn't say so?) and sported a bad-boy attitude.

(When Arashi first came into the house, he was already up to her neck (literally) and interrogating her like she was some sort of criminal.

"Who the hell are you? Are you here to harm Jyudaime? Well you'll never be able to because I'm his right hand man! I'll kill you first!"

"Um…"

"Gokudera! Please be nice!")

But after only one afternoon with him, Gokudera was, Arashi concluded, a piece of dark chocolate of the family. He was a bitter meanie on the outside, but once the thick layers of bitterness were melted away, he was a big, sweet softie on the inside. She could see it when he was with Tsuna. He was like a puppy, somewhat timid, but very loyal, fierce and protective. He would definitely be a good right-hand man for Tsuna.

Yamamoto Takeshi was a bit of a dope. He was very nice (and very attractive) and carefree, but his denseness got on Gokudera's nerves quite a lot.

(If Arashi didn't know better, she'd have thought they were like a married couple. Gokudera would be the constantly bickering wife, and Yamamoto would be the carefree husband who just laughs everything off. What a wonderful, homey image.)

On the bright side, his happy-go-lucky personality could infect almost anyone with happiness. Just hanging around him could make your day that much brighter. Yamamoto made Arashi laugh until her stomach hurt. It was a wonderful feeling.

Sasagawa Ryohei was the scariest boy Arashi had met out of the four. He was like an out-of-control car. It was so hard to keep in pace with him. He was so upbeat and energetic. And apparently he did everything with a lot of extremeness.

(When Arashi was about to leave, Ryohei had offered to walk her home. Arashi accepted the kind offer, but ended up doing an intense workout.

"Since you're not really familiar with this side of the neighbourhood, I'll lead the way back to your house! I've been all around town!"

"Thanks Ryohei!"

"Let's start off with a slow jog!"

"Ryohei! SLOW DOWN! That's not even called jogging, it's called SPRINTING!"

…

"Hey, Ryohei? Tsuna's house is a lot more far away than I thought…"

"Not really. It's only 10 minutes away."

"!"

"I didn't finish my workout this morning because I was running late, so I'm doing it now!"

"IT HAS BEEN 2 HOURS AND WE'RE STILL NOT BACK AT MY HOUSE!"

"TO THE EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEME!"

"RYOHEIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!")

Truth be told, Arashi didn't know whether to be really mad at him for dragging her into his workout routine or be really grateful for the amount of exercise she'd done.

Needless to say, Arashi was exhausted. As soon as she finished recording the day's events into her journal, she dived into her warm, fluffy bed and fell asleep immediately.

~x~

"_Hello."_

_It's that woman again._

"_It's been a while."_

_Why does she keep appearing in my dreams?_

"_I trust that you have already been into the Garden of Eden."_

_I have. But I'm nervous. Who could the snake be?_

"_Do not worry about the identity of the snake for now. You still have time."_

_What should I do then?_

"_Do not leave the Garden of Eden. It is your safe haven."_

_How is the Garden safe when the snake is still lurking out there? _

"_The snake is cautious and calculating; you will not be able to detect its presence at all, and it will not show its fangs to you unless it is absolutely necessary."_

_What will happen if the snake bares its fangs?_

_The woman's hazel-coloured gems disappeared behind her eyelids and reappeared again._

"_You will _die_."_

_I could not speak for a while. The most dangerous creature co-existed with my safest refuge._

_Must I let this threat co-exist with my well-being? There must be a way to stop it!_

"_There is only one way to solve this problem."_

_What is it? Please tell me!_

"_Play pretend; use your mask."_

_That doesn't make any sense._

"_Be extremely cautious. Choose your words carefully. Don't do anything reckless. You _will fail_ if you do not do what I say."_

_You tell me that every time!_

"_I have to go."_

_Wait! Where are you going? Don't leave!_

_The woman smiled before her entire figure faded away._

~x~

Arashi opened her eyes. She twisted her body to reach for the notebook and pen she had placed on her bedside table. She flipped it open and wrote as fast as possible before her dream started fading away. After a few minutes of frantic scribbling, she stopped.

"There's no garden in my dream this time…" she mused. _Maybe it's because the garden has finally appeared in my real life…_

She reread her notes to see if she missed anything. Then a thought struck her.

The woman answered her questions this time! In the past, whenever Arashi dreamt of the woman, the woman simply relayed information to her without listening to any of her protests or questions. This time, the woman actually responded to Arashi.

_That's really strange, _Arashi thought, _but it's nice. Maybe she got tired of ignoring me!_

_But then again, it's a bit weird to be talking to a person in a dream. It's like…talking to myself. Oh my…_

~x~

"ARASHI!" Masami's voice thundered.

"Coming!" Arashi finished delivering orders to her customers and ran into the _Employees Only_ room.

"Yes, Masami-san?"

Masami pointed to the stoic male sitting with his arms crossed at the wooden table in the corner of the room.

"20 minutes. Mind you, you're going to have to make up for that time later on today."

Arashi nodded. "Thank you so much Masami-san!" She called out as Masami slipped out of the kitchen.

The brunette brewed her specialty green tea, poured two cups, and slid one towards the male.

"You look like you're not in a very good mood today, Hibari-san," Arashi said quietly as she plopped herself down in the chair across from him and sipped her tea. "So I put some vanilla and a bit of honey in your tea. For comfort."

Hibari slowly uncrossed his arms and took a sip of the warm liquid.

"So…how was your day?"

Hibari stopped sipping and immediately glared at her.

"Nevermind! Pretend I never asked! Haha…" _Why the heck is he here if he's not going to talk or tell me what he wants?_

After a long moment of silence, Hibari's dark mood seemed to have lightened up, so Arashi spoke again.

"I think I'm going insane."

Hibari looked at her, this time with a slight smirk on his face. Arashi took that as a sign to continue.

"I've been having dreams since last year about some crazy woman who sparkles…kind of. I talk to her. She's sort of like a fortune teller. She tells me things…"

Hibari raised an eyebrow. "And you believe her."

_OH MY GOSH HE JUST TALKED! _Arashi squealed on the inside.

"Well…she said that if I didn't do what she said, then I'd fail! Or die. Depending on the situation. It's better to be safe than sound, right?"

"You will never go far if you don't take risks."

_And the wise one speaks again._

"Wow, thanks for the advice, Hibari-san! Anyway, she looks vaguely familiar. I'm trying to figure out if I've seen her somewhere before or if I knew her when I was very little. She tells me about stuff that is loosely based on the story _The Garden of Eden_. The garden is very pretty, and it's supposed to be my safe haven, but there's a snake…"

…

~x~

The _Employees Only_ door slammed open.

"20 MINUTES IS UP! GET BACK TO WORK KID!"

"Okay, okay!" Arashi scrambled to put the empty teacups into the sink. She turned to Hibari with a grin and waved. "Thanks for dropping by, Hibari-san! Come again soon and I'll make more tea!"

"HURRY UP! YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF ORDERS TO DO!" Masami yelled at her.

"Yes Ma'am!" Arashi replied and hustled off to resume her duties.

~x~

It was finally the end of the day. Arashi changed out of her uniform and stretched.

In the midst of her stretch something caught her eye.

"Eh? It's a jacket! Hibari-san must have left it here…"

She picked it up from the chair it was draped over. It was smooth and cool on the outside but lined and warm on the inside. You could wear it every single day of the year and you wouldn't freeze from the cold or burn from the heat.

The brunette stood still and wondered what to do. Should she wait for Hibari-san to come by next time? But he might need his jacket! Or should she go find him? But she doesn't know where he lives!

"Go find him." Came Reborn's voice, scaring the wits out of Arashi.

"HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?"

Reborn pointed bluntly at the door, which was slightly ajar.

"Go find Hibari," Reborn repeated. "He'll be at Namimori Middle School."

_But it's 7 o'clock at night! What kind of person is at school so late? Does he stake out there or something?_

And so, with a kick-start from Reborn (literally), Arashi set off on the journey to find Hibari.

* * *

><p>I hope this chapter was a little bit more interesting! It was a bit of a filler, but there's quite a bit of relationships &amp; character development established. As for why the chapter was called "Animated  Character"…those were the words that popped up in my mind as I was writing the chapter. So there you go!

And yes, Arashi doesn't go to Namimori Middle. If she went to Namimori Middle too then she would probably end up turning into a badass Mary-Sue or just a cliché OC.

There will be more Hibari-Arashi interactions next chapter. Please stay tuned!

Thank you for reading! :D


	7. Mask

Hello again! This chapter finally has more Hibari-Arashi interaction! \o/

Thank you to Juliedoo and Bloody-WhiteRoseDM (once again) for reviewing! It means a lot to me! 3

I've changed the story's rating to M in case of swearing. There won't be any explicit sexual content though.

**Disclaimer:** Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn! is owned by Amano Akira!

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Mask<p>

Arashi arrived at the front of Namimori Middle. The school was quite large compared to hers, and it gave off a rather gloomy feel. Or maybe it was just because of the heavy grey clouds looming over the school…

The front iron gates were locked (obviously, but it was worth a try anyway), so the brunette spent the next 10 minutes climbing the walls of the school (not a good idea) and ended up falling on her butt several times.

"Man, I should learn how to climb things properly…" Arashi muttered, rubbing her sore butt.

"_Midori tanabiku, Namimori no!_" a high pitched, offtune voice sang from above. Arashi jumped at the voice and looked up. "What the heck?"

A furry yellow ball drifted down and seemed to aim for her shoulder. Arashi stepped away to avoid it, but it landed on her anyway.

The ball chirped.

It was a _bird_.

Arashi stood frozen in her pose and stared fearfully at the bird, wondering if flicking it off her shoulder would do any good.

Luckily, the yellow creature seemed to sense Arashi's discomfort and flew off her shoulder. Arashi let out a sigh of relief. But the bird still lingered around, as if it wanted to tell her something. Arashi eyed the bird cautiously. There was probably some evil scheme brewing in that little brain…

The bird sang its little song again and disappeared around the corner of the school. Out of curiosity, Arashi peeked around the corner, only to find that the bird was waiting for her. It flew off into a distance once again, and this time Arashi followed. It led her to a side door (which was luckily unlocked), through the halls, and up a long flight of staircase. The door at the end of the staircase was slightly ajar, and Arashi pushed it open. The yellow fluffball flapped its wings and happily called, "Hibari! Hibari!"

Ah. So that was why the bird bothered her.

Arashi and the creature approached Hibari, who was lying on the ground. He seemed to be sleeping…

"Hibari! Hibari!" The bird chirped loudly.

Before Arashi even finished blinking, a cold metal stick was already pressed against her throat.

"Uhm, Hibari-san…?" Arashi squeaked.

"You woke me up." Hibari wore an expressionless face, but his piercing grey eyes showed menace.

Arashi waved her arms. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't know you hate being disturbed in your sleep!**"**

Hibari ignored her pleas, gripped a fist full of her hair to secure her in place and raised his stick to hit her. Out of instinct to protect herself, Arashi blindly pulled the black jacket that has been draped on her right shoulder and whipped it.

A _THWACK_ noise was made as the fabric hit its target. Dead silence followed.

"…"

"…" Arashi opened one eye and glanced fearfully at the male.

"…"

"…Here's your jacket?"

After a few more moments of (scary) silence, Hibari grunted and snatched his jacket from Arashi's hand, releasing her in the process.

Arashi rubbed her head and cried a little bit on the inside when she saw strands of long brown hair lying on the ground. Her mouth opened to remind him that he didn't thank her yet and he should apologize for giving her a bald patch, but as her eyes drifted toward the male all those thoughts left her mind.

Hibari was leaning on the fence with his jacket draped across his shoulders, looking out at the town. The yellow ball was nestled on the top of his head. The wind gently blew against his jacket and tousled his hair. He seemed so…alone in this world. All at once Arashi understood (or thought she did) why he was always frowning and scary. It was all just a mask…

The brunette took a deep breath and walked towards Hibari. She gingerly leaned herself over the fence and glanced at Hibari.

"Sorry…" Arashi spoke quietly.

Hibari ignored her and continued staring out with a stony expression on his face.

Arashi let out a quiet sigh and gazed at the town as well. It was getting dark, and one by one, stores and houses began to turn on their lights, illuminating the town.

"Namimori is so beautiful from up here…"

"Hn." The corners of Arashi's mouth lifted slightly. It looks like he's not going to kill her for smacking him in the face with his jacket after all.

"So…why do you carry those metal sticks around?"

Hibari glanced at her from the corner of his eyes with an eyebrow slightly raised, only to meet Arashi's genuinely curious eyes.

"They're called tonfas. They're convenient." Hibari replied, with a hint of prideful smirk on his face.

…_For beating up people…this guy is really scary…_ Arashi thought, glancing sideways at said male, who seemed to be in some gory violent fantasy lala-land at the moment. _OKAY THEN! TIME FOR A TOPIC CHANGE!_

"So uh, where'd you get this bird? Does it have a name?"

Hibari glared slightly at the girl. (He was probably just mad that she popped his gory violent fantasy bubble…)

"…Does it poop on you?"

The male's glare contorted into a weird expression – one that seemed to question the brunette's sanity.

Arashi noticed that look at once. "Hey! Stop looking at me like that! I had a traumatic experience with birds, okay?"

Both Hibari and the bird turned fully to stare at Arashi, seemingly intrigued.

The girl slid down to the ground and pulled her knees towards her torso.

"It was a nice, breezy day. I was only 6…"

~x~

_Young Arashi was out in the park, happily running around. Today was the first time her parents let her go outside all by herself. Right now, she was playing hide and seek with a bunch of other girls._

"_Ha! They'll never find me here!" Arashi said to herself. She was perched on the branch of a tree, and there was enough foliage to conceal her presence._

_Arashi waited. Time flew by quickly, and before she knew it, it was almost dinner time._

"_Wow, my hiding place must be really awesome for them to take this long to find me!" _

_Suddenly she felt a presence. _Finally! Someone's found me!_ She thought._

_A soft croon and the sound of flapping wings alerted Arashi to visitors from above. It was a bird. The girl smiled. It was so fluffy and cute!_

_The bird crooned again and this time, its friends came and they all perched on the branch directly above Arashi. They all stared at the girl with their beady eyes, as if they were security cameras, watching her every move. All of a sudden, Arashi felt intimidated and outnumbered by a bunch of birds. She turned to continue observing her surroundings below, eagerly waiting for the moment she was found and could finally climb down this tree._

_She still felt the birds' beady eyes staring at her. It was beginning to get uncomfortable. The birds above were chirping away quietly when suddenly, a bird chirped particularly loudly and Arashi felt splats of wetness land on her head. The frightened girl gingerly touched her hair and looked at her finger. _

_It was white and green and gooey._

_The birds had…well, to put it nicely, excreted on her._

_Tears threatened to come out of her eyes. Arashi blinked a few times and quickly descended down the tree trunk. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she ran away as if her life depended on it._

_As she ran, she could hear birds chirping away, as if they were laughing at her._

_Arashi slowed down when she saw the group of girls she was playing hide and seek with. Noticing her presence, the girls looked up; their eyes widened and their jaws dropped, and before long, laughter ensued._

"_Wha-haha-t happened to you? Hahaha! Di-did you shampoo with a-ha-a bottle of bird poop?" A girl asked between laughs, holding her stomach and pointing at Arashi's head._

_Arashi decided to ignore the rude joke. "You never found me! That means I win!" She said, smiling weakly._

_Another girl managed to stop laughing for a bit to answer her question. "You were playing?"_

_Arashi's feeble smile dropped._

"_Hahaha! You're so disgusting! You'll never get a boyfriend!"_

"_Scratch that! You'll never get any friends after we tell everyone about you, poophead! HAHAHHAA!"_

_The girls were all holding their stomachs and laughing like crazy. Arashi could no longer hold her tears in and she ran away._

~x~

Arashi plonked her forehead on her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. The story triggered feelings of total humiliation and a lot of pain.

Neither Hibari nor the yellow bird made any noise…But the male did put his hand on Arashi's head for a little while.

Arashi felt him give her a little pat on the head and lightly ruffle her hair.

"Don't stay here for too long, or I will have to punish you for trespassing school property," she heard Hibari say. The sound of his footsteps faded as he walked away.

~x~

Arashi felt a little better as she walked through the streets of Namimori. She had never told anyone about this story, and it was nice finally getting it out. Of course, Hibari was nowhere near supportive or sympathetic, but he did stay and listen. Arashi smiled lightly.

She walked past the alley where the Tea House was situated. An indistinct but loud chatter could be heard from where she was standing.

"Eh? And the lights are on too! The tea house was supposed to be closed a while ago…I wonder what's going on?" Arashi approached the tea house cautiously.

The noise got louder as she got closer, and it dawned on her that there was some sort of argument going on. The argument was quite intense; Arashi couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but their voices sounded threatening and very, very angry. She flattened herself against the wall outside of the tea house and listened.

"You will do as I say." A deep male voice said.

"Y-Yes," came Masami's shaky voice.

"If you don't…" The sound of a gun safety being pulled back made the hair on the back of Arashi's neck stand. "You know exactly what is going to happen." A shot was fired, shattering something. Probably a cup of tea…

Suddenly, a piece of cool metal was pressed against her neck. Arashi froze in place.

"Show any signs of struggle, and your blood and flesh will be the newest decoration in this alley."

The man pushed her into the tea house. Masami and Oyaji were tied up and sat in the middle. Two suited men with shades stood guard beside them, and another one sat on a table in front of Masami and Oyaji, casually twirling his gun. He seemed to be the one in charge.

Masami's eyes widened slightly when she saw Arashi. Oyaji remained expressionless, but Arashi saw his jaw clench.

The leader turned to look at the newcomers. "Well, well. What do we have here?"

"Caught her listening in from outside, boss," The man holding Arashi said.

The leader smiled at her. Arashi stiffened even more. This guy…he not only smiled happily. He was most likely trigger-happy too.

_What do I do what do I do WHAT DO I DO?_ Arashi panicked in her head.

"_There is only one way to solve this problem."_

Right! The fortune teller's words! They may actually be useful in this situation!

"_Play pretend; use your mask."_

_Well then. Time to act like a demanding little kid and hope for the best!_

Arashi took a deep breath (well, as deep as the knife against her neck allowed) and pouted.

"Leave them alone! Why do you have to tie people up? That's just mean!"

The leader chuckled. "Oh?"

"You only want money right? There's plenty of that in the cashier register."

The two guarding men looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

Arashi stared at the two men.

"You guys _are_ robbers, right?"

"Of course we're no-"

"Of course we are!" The leader interrupted happily. "And we've got what we want now!" Then he turned to the man holding Arashi hostage. "You can let the girl go now."

The man withdrew his knife and pushed Arashi forward towards Masami and Oyaji.

The leader bounced off the table and walked towards the front doors. His men followed suit.

"Remember my words, Masami-chan, Akio-kun~" And then they were gone.

Arashi quickly rushed to untie Masami and Oyaji.

"Are you guys okay?" Arashi asked.

"Yes, yes we are," said Masami weakly.

"Thank you," Oyaji said.

And for the first time ever, Arashi saw Masami smile at her.

* * *

><p>The last part took me ages to write ):<p>

I didn't really have time to proofread so I hope I didn't make any stupid mistakes haha.

Thank you for reading! :D


	8. Blown

Thank you so much for your reviews! School has taken a toll on me and I almost gave up on this…updates will take forever now but I do hope you guys will come back and take a look at it when I do update!

**Disclaimer**: _Katekyoushi Hitman Reborn!_ is owned by Amano Akira!

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Blown<p>

Arashi hummed a happy tune as she scrubbed the dishes in the kitchen. Reborn had invited her to Tsuna's house after work for a gathering, and she was excited to see everyone again. They were all weird in their own ways, but they seemed to be nice people. She couldn't wait!

Besides, she still had to tell Reborn about that "robbery" incident.

It had been a few weeks since it happened, and Masami and Oyaji were constantly reminding her that it was "just a bunch of Goddamn bastards that wanted to take all their money" and "nothing more than bad luck". Arashi smiled and went along with their story, but of course she didn't believe a word of it. The threats those "robbers" uttered seemed to be much more than just about money, and Arashi never actually saw them take any money or valuable goods. Those men were more like interrogators (or threateners) than robbers.

The most suspicious thing since the incident, though, was that Masami's attitude toward Arashi had changed completely. She no longer yelled at her and she became much more lenient. She even called Arashi by her name! (No more "GIRL! GET OVER HERE!" Hah.) Occasionally, when Hibari visited for free tea (because Arashi wouldn't dare charging him for the tea – the money came out of her pocket), Masami told her his drink was on the house and that she could chat with him as long as she wanted if there weren't many customers around. Sometimes Arashi even got to have a normal conversation with Masami to get to know her better. It was scary. It was like Masami was treating her like some sort of saviour or God…

~x~

"Bye, Masami-san! Bye, Oyaji!" Arashi waved at the two as she exited the tea house. The two waved cheerfully back at her as she set off to Tsuna's house.

Arashi had heard a loud buzz of commotion and voices way before she reached Tsuna's house. She bet that if Hibari was patrolling this part of the town, he certainly would've gotten a headache! When she got to Tsuna's house, the front door was wide open. Arashi stepped in and almost got knocked down by a couple of screaming kids.

"Woah there!" Arashi exclaimed, picking up the two squirming kids by the backs of their collars, "Be careful!"

One of them stopped squirming. She had an oval head with a single black braid at the top of her head. "Please let go, miss," she said politely. Arashi smiled at her adorableness.

The other kid, on the other hand, squirmed even more, causing Arashi to lose her balance and drop him. Arashi quickly put the braided girl down and awkwardly patted the poor kid who fell on the head.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "Are you alright?!"

"Lambo…must…to…ler…rate…" the child mumbled. He took several deep breaths. Arashi let out a sigh of relief. For a cute little kid that looked like a cow, he sure was good at self-control!

The child suddenly burst into tears and wailed thunderously, knocking Arashi out for a few nanoseconds.

"Lambo! I-Pin!" Tsuna exclaimed, coming to the rescue. He spotted the poor brunette rubbing her ear. "Arashi-san, are you okay?!"

Arashi nodded weakly. "My ear is ringing a bit, but I think I'm fine…Poor Lambo doesn't seem to be okay though!" She patted the crying child on his bouncy afro.

By this time, the commotion had attracted everyone to come look. (Except for Nana who was busy cooking away as usual)

"STOP CRYING, YOU STUPID COW!" Gokudera yelled. "IT'S REALLY ANNOYING!"

"Gokudera! You're not helping!"

Lambo's cries increased in volume in response to Gokudera. He also started lashing out and pulling things out of his afro – candies, pink toy grenades, wrappers, half eaten apples…and a bunch of other things that Arashi didn't know could fit into that small mass of hair.

Suddenly, he pulled out a giant purple cylinder.

Tsuna screamed in horror as it landed on Arashi and a loud pop sounded. Smoke filled the area and everyone coughed.

~x~

Arashi rubbed her eyes. The smoke had stung a bit. It smelled really smoky and damp.

And it was really, really quiet.

Arashi squinted an eye open. It was dark…too dark to be Tsuna's house. Maybe something was wrong with her eyes?

_NOOO! _Arashi thought, frantically shaking her head and waving her arms. "OW!"

Arashi opened both of her eyes completely. Her arms had several paper-thin cuts and they hurt a lot. What's more, there was a complicated arrangement of thin wires in front of her.

She gingerly twisted her head to look around.

In fact, she was completely surrounded by a_ web _of these thin wires_._

Arashi freaked out on the inside. _WHAT THE HECK?! HOW DID I GET HERE?! HOW AM I GOING TO GET OUT?!_

She took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

_Well,_ she thought as she observed her surroundings, _if I somehow managed to get tangled in _

_the middle of all this, then there must be a way out!_

~x~

"What the fuck?"

Everyone looked up and saw a tall female silhouette behind the smoke.

"It must be Arashi-san from ten years later!"

The smoke cleared to reveal the older Arashi. Her wavy brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail and she was dressed in black from head to toe. She had a few thin cuts on her face, and her hazel eyes were dark and stormy. Her pale lips were pressed into a firm line.

"I just _had _to get blasted right when I'm in the middle of something dangerous…" Arashi said, obviously annoyed.

"This Arashi is so much darker and more serious than the younger one…" Gokudera muttered to himself.

Suddenly, Lambo and I-Pin screamed and jumped away from Arashi, holding onto Tsuna for dear life.

Arashi blinked and looked down at her hand. "Oh," she said and sheathed her silver dagger, which was tainted with blood.

Tsuna inched away slowly. "Hehe…hehe…so scary…"

She walked over to Reborn and squatted down to his level, making creaky metal sounds in the process. "Please smack some sense into the younger me."

"Hmm…" Reborn responded, seemingly in deep thought.

"You're holding back. Stop being so nice to her."

"HIII?!" Tsuna cringed. "Reborn is nice? Why is he always so mean and kicking me?!"

In response, Reborn kicks Tsuna hard in the butt, sending him flying across the room. "It's just you, Dame-Tsuna."

"REBORN! THAT HURT!" Tsuna cried.

"You asked for it."

From his peripheral vision, Gokudera noticed that Arashi's eyes softened and the corners of her lips twitched slightly upwards.

~x~

Arashi carefully pinched a wire with her hands (receiving more cuts in the process) to test their strength, only to find that they were hard…like a very thin string of glass.

_That's awesome! I can easily smash through these and be free!_

She covered her eyes with one arm and gave her foot and other arm a good swing. The sound of glass shattering made her feel relieved that her plan actually worked…

~x~

The sound of metal shifted Tsuna's attention back to Arashi. She had stood up and was unsheathing her dagger.

"5 minutes is almost up," she stated.

"Arashi-san, will you be safe?" Tsuna asked.

"I will be," she replied, her face void of any expression. "But you'll be extremely lucky if you see the younger me still intact when she gets back. _If_ she gets back."

"Haha, of course she'll be back and intact!" Yamamoto piped.

"EXTREMELY INTACT!" Ryohei added.

~c~

The sound of glass shattering did not stop.

She peeked an eye open and saw that the entire web of glass wires was falling apart.

A humming sound began as the glass shattering sound diminished, growing louder and louder, closer and clos-

BAM

~x~

Light flooded around her, penetrating her eyelids.

She coughed and opened an eye, only to see smoke. Her ears were ringing, but she could still smell…the scent of smoke and…food?

"Arashi! You're back!" Yamamoto's cheerful voice was the first sound she could hear.

"Thank goodness!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"YOU'RE EXTREMELY STILL INTACT!" Ryohei yelled.

"What the heck…?" Arashi replied, still confused as to what happened.

"You got blasted into the future." Reborn stated.

The smoke finally cleared and Arashi stared at Reborn, her eyes wide. "I got _blasted_ into _what?_"

"The future. Ten years later. Lambo blasted you with his ten-year bazooka, so your future self and you swapped spots for 5 minutes."

"Wow…" Arashi mused as she found a chair to sit on. "That sounds…so farfetched, but SO COOL!"

"Dinner is ready, everyone!" Nana exclaimed. "Come over and eat!"

"Tell us what happened in ten years, Arashi! What did you see?"

"Well," Arashi began as she dug into her food, "(Thank you Nana! Your cooking is always delicious!) I was stuck in this dark, damp place…"

~x~

Later that night, after writing in her journal about her crazy adventure today, Arashi plopped onto her bed and fell fast asleep.

~x~

"_You."_

_Yes?_

_It's that woman again. Everything looked the same. Except this time, her hazel eyes were no longer sparkling with light. Her face was decorated with thin cuts and a frown._

_She seemed more…real._

"_Never, NEVER get blasted by the bazooka EVER again."_

_What?_

_That doesn't make sense…why are you talking about the past?_

"_Because I'm not some 'fortune teller'."_

_Then who _are _you?_

"_I'm you from the future."_

* * *

><p>...Because every OC <em>has<em> to get blasted by the bazooka at least once.

I hope this bazooka blast wasn't too cliché though! I thought the blast was a pretty justified reason to finally let you in on who the fortune lady is ;D

I was actually going to end the chapter at the BAM! part, but then I know I probably won't get around to posting another chapter for a bit so that'd be really mean leaving a cliff-hanger like that xD

Hope you enjoyed!


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